


Safe

by a_stark



Category: Harry Styles - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:13:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27485569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_stark/pseuds/a_stark
Summary: i wrote what i wish i had
Kudos: 2





	Safe

I awake in a haze, and my body is on fire. A whimper escapes my lips as I regain control of my body. I slump off the bed, and crumple to the floor, curling into myself. My hands grip my knees, pulling them into my chest. Whatever they did to me, it hurts with an intensity I've never felt before. After a moment, the pain fades to a dull bruise-like quality. I tentatively pull myself to my feet, and catch a glance of myself in the small mirror. I stare into it with glazed eyes. My head feels heavy-- it's still clouded over from whatever was in the needle they stuck me with. I reach a hand out towards the mirror, and don't recognize myself. I look down at my hands, baffled. Why do I have no memory of how I got here? I vaguely recall strange men pinning me down, and plunging a needle into my arm... But besides that, nothing. Who am I?

Suddenly, I'm overwhelmed with the desire to not be in this tiny room. The cold, concrete walls seemed to be closing in, and a sharp feeling of panic bubbles up in my stomach. Hyperventilation overcomes me, and there is the weight of the world settled on my lungs, halting them from performing their only task. I feel like I am tied to a train track, and all I can hear is the loud squeal of breaks put into action too late. All I can feel is the earth shaking with the strain of thousands of tons of steel heading straight for me. Or maybe it's me who shakes? I am trapped. In this room, in my mind. I don't realize I'm crying out until the door slams open, and I fall silent with shock. I pull my vision up to the doorway, in which stands a single man. Brown, curly hair, and eyes filled with an unidentifiable emotion.

"What the fuck... are you... are you okay?" the man says, tripping over his words as if someone else were directing them. I desperately scoot backwards in fear, and shrink down as small as I can manage. My hands slip across the concrete, leaving a trail of blood. I numbly stare down at my shaking hands, and try to focus my eyes on the source of the blood. What happened to me? I jump as the door slams, and my eyes dart upwards to confirm that I was once again alone. But I am instead greeted with the sight of the man crossing the room in a few swift strides. I squeeze my eyes shut, and muscle memory directs my hands as they fly up to protect my face. Two large hands wrap around my wrists, holding them aloft. Trembling, I peek up at him, and whimper, "P-please don't hurt me."

I am surprised not to see the malice I expected in his face. Instead, I only register concern. "Hey... I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay," he whispers. I violently try to wrench myself out of his grip, "Let go of me, you're lying!" He immediately releases my wrists, and puts his hands up in surrender, "Shh, shh, you can trust me. I promise. I just want to help you." Adrenaline from the human contact is beginning to wear off, and the drug-induced haze once again seeps back over my mind. A tear spills from my eye, and the man watches it fall before adding, "It's freezing in here. Let's get you off this floor." Hesitantly, he reaches for me again, and I surrender myself to whatever fate this man decides for me. How would this situation possibly get worse? I've given up. 

He pulls my unresisting body up off the floor, and I try to stand, but my exhausted limbs don't comply. I stumble, but he picks up my quivering frame, and lowers me down to sit on the edge of the bed I woke up on. I look up and meet his eyes as he stands over me, and see his eyebrows push together in concern, "Hey, V, do you recognize me at all?" I try to make sense of his words, but with every passing moment, the fog threatens to overtake my consciousness, "I'm sorry..." I slur, "They... needle." He seems to understand my incoherence, because he nods, and then slowly moves to sit next to me. I gaze at him, yearning for any sliver of recognition, and ask, "Do I know you?" He stares into my unfocused eyes, and says, "My name is Harry. You know me. I promise." Something within me believes his words, or maybe I just desperately need something to ground me, because I drop my head to my chest, and fall into him. My head rests against his chest, and my arms hopelessly reach around him. I tuck myself into his arms, and after a moment, he reaches one hand around me, pulling me in. The other hand goes to rest on the back of my head, softly smoothing my hair.

A sob racks my body, and he pulls me in even tighter, as if he can't bare to let go. He leans over me protectively, and whispers through my hair, "This won't last forever. You're safe now." My hands grasp the back of his shirt, grabbing fistfuls of it simply for the sake of having something solid to hold on to. We stay this way for a long moment, and eventually he says softly, "Let's get you out of this cell. I will take you somewhere you can sleep. Okay?" I hesitantly lean back, and nod as I stare at my hands. A tear lands falls, and stings as it lands on my hand. I wince, and stare down at the dried blood. Harry gently reaches a hand out to cup my face, and brushes a thumb across my cheek. He gives me a caring smile, and reassures me, "It's going to be alright, love."

He stands and scoops me up with strong arms, lifting me off the bed with ease. I clumsily wrap my arms around his neck as he holds onto my legs. As we exit the room, my eyes are blinding by the infinitely brighter hallway. I cringe against the light, and hide my face in Harry's neck. When I peek at my surroundings, I see several men in uniforms identical to the ones worn by the men who drugged me. My breathing quickens, and I frantically whisper, "These are the people who drugged me. P-please don't let them take me." Harry rubs a soothing hand across my back, and says quietly, "You have to trust me. Don't be scared, just close your eyes." I oblige, and moments later, we exit the building, and are outside. The sound of a car being unlocked startles my eyes open, and he sets me down to open the door. I look up and see the moon, a sign that I am finally free. But suddenly, a voice sounds from the direction of the building, "Hey, wait a minute."

I turn to see one of the uniformed men walking towards us, and am hit with another burst of adrenaline. Without a second thought, I take off running into the street. A car screeches to a halt in front of me, mere inches from collision. I overestimate my ability for a quick getaway though, as I only make it across the street before arms grab me, and I am jolted to a stop. "You have to let me go, please don't hurt me anymore," I sob, trying to wrestle out of the arms of my abductor. But the voice belonging to the arms that restrain me speaks, and I suddenly realize it's Harry trying to calm me down, "It's just me. It's just me. I'm not going to let anybody hurt you." I sag into his hold, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I won't do it again if you promise not to hit me." For the second time, he scoops me up, and reassuringly says, "The man was just bringing me some paperwork I forgot to sign, I promise he wasn't trying to take you back inside. I know you don't know what to believe right now, but I swear you can trust me. Can you do that for me?" Although my instincts tell me to run, my heart tells me I can trust Harry.

So I willingly let him help me into his car, and try not to flinch when he reaches across me to buckle my seatbelt. Suddenly, my eyes snap open and I look around frantically. It's dark, and I'm alone-- strapped into the passenger seat. But my panic is cut short, when my door opens, and Harry is there, unbuckling me, and helping me out of the car. He carries me up the driveway, to the front door of a beautiful house surrounded by trees. I look up to get one more look at the moon before we cross the threshold into Harry's entryway. He takes me up a flight of stairs, and through a large bedroom, to a bathroom, where he sets me on the counter next to the sink. He opens a drawer, and rustles around in search of something, and when he finds it, straightens up saying, "I'm going to get you cleaned up, okay?"

I don't answer, and he takes my hands, beginning to clean the crusted up blood. I wince as the alcohol stings the cuts, and ask, "What happened to me?" He pauses, and sighs deeply, before leaning over to grab some bandages from the drawer, "You... are very important to me. Hopefully, you will remember that soon. But from what I have been told, you were taken off the street. I was so worried when you didn't show up, but there was no trace of you. For days, I was terrified you were gone forever, but today I finally got a call from the police station that they found you in the basement of a house they were searching for some bad bad men. Apparently, you were delirious, and scared, so they sedated you. When they got you to the station, they were able to recognize you as the missing girl. When they called me to come pick you up, I couldn't believe it. Look, I know you don't remember anything right now, but I want you to know that you mean everything to me."

Suddenly, my stomach seizes up, and I say urgently, "I think I'm gong to be sick." Urgently, I slide off the counter, stumbling to the toilet. I fall to the ground in front of it, barely reaching the bowl, as I vomit. Gentle hands gather my hair, and hold it back as I retch into the toilet. There isn't much of anything in my stomach to eject, so it's over as quickly as it began. "Sorry," I say, embarrassed. "Don't be," he answers, reassuringly, as he rubs my back. We make our way back to the sink, where I slowly but surely accomplish the, usually mundane, task of brushing my teeth. He brings me a pair of soft shorts, and a big T-shirt, and I am too exhausted to refuse his help in changing. My eyelids are heavy as he guides me out of the bathroom. 

I sit on the edge of the bed, numb. He stands in front of me, "You probably want to be alone after today, so I'll be right next door. Are you okay?" I look up, and whimper as a tear falls down my cheek. He immediately reaches out to put his arms around me, and I slump forward, holding onto him like a lifeline, "Please don't leave me alone." The thought of being left alone in the dark sends me into a panic, and I lose the ability to breathe. His tight embrace grounds me, and he kindly shushes my sobs, "Hey, I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay right here. I've got you. Just breathe, you need to breathe." 

When my lungs regain function, he reaches up to pull back the covers, and I crawl into them. Without another word, he slides in next to me, and pulls me into his warm embrace. He only lets go to reach up and turn off the lights, and as my eyes fall shut, I whisper, "Thank you." He presses a soft kiss to my hair, "I've got you. I'll never let anyone hurt you. You're safe." His arms tighten around me, and my breathing slows. I'm safe.


End file.
